substaunce of holynesse making all other things holy And here I thinke it worthy to be noted and to be opened somewhat vnto you with what sophistrie and vnlearned folye they deluded the sanctification and consecration of this sacrament Children at the Vniuersitie can tell that it is a deceytfull way of reasoning by a generall discription to exclude and driue away a special and singuler definition as they did in this case For they sayde that the consecration of the sacrament was no more but an appointing of bread and wine to an holy vse which vse they sayde was to signifie vnto vs Christes body that is in heauen and therefore some sayde that the bread was consecrat when the parishe Clarke did bring it to the Church and set it vpon the table and these were no small men but our greatest Bishops God forgiue it them other sayde it was not consecrate till the wordes of Christ were spoken but yet they noted that the Priest should not looke at the bread in the time of the pronouncing for this ende belike that they should not be disceyued that God should worke no more then it pleased them that their doctrine might some waye bee true And therfore they sayde euery man and woman might consecrate and speake the words as well as a Priest but they neuer read what Arnobius sayth Arniobus in Psalm 139. Quid tam magnificum quam Sacramenta deuina conficere quid tam perniciosum quam si ea is conficiat qui nullum sacerdotij gradum accepit What is so excellent then to consecrate the sacraments of God and what is so pernicious then if he doe consecrate that hath receyued no order and degree of Priesthood And as they erred in the time and person so they erred in the nature of the consecration making this of the same sort that all other consecrations be receauing the generall discription and denying the degrees and specialties of sanctification which be many for somethings be holy not for any holynesse that is in them but for that they be brought to the Church and dedicate to some holy vse as is the temple of God the vestures about the aultar and other things vsed in Gods seruice which things to steale and conuey is sacrilege and amongst those things there be degrees of holynesse as saint Augustine sayth Quod accipiunt Catechumini August de peccat merit remiss libr. 2. ca. 26. quamuis non sit corpus Christi sanctum est tamen sanctius quà m cibi quibus alimur Holy bread which those that be learners receiue although it be not the body of Christ yet it is holy and more holy then the meat with which we are fed daylie which also is sanctified by the worde and prayer There is also holynesse a qualitie a vertue gift of God making him in whome it is acceptable in the sight of God The soule of man is likewise sanctified holy bicause it is that substaunce and subiect wherein holynesse consisteth and dwelleth being a vessell created to Gods ymage and prepared to receaue Gods gift of sanctification holynesse And the body of a godly man is also sanctified holy bicause it is the member of Christ the temple of the holy Ghost and the house and tabernacle of the soule replenished with Gods grace and sanctification and for this reason we haue in reuerence and estimation the reliques bodyes of holy martyrs and confessors which being members of Christ were also pleasing sacrifices to Almightie God eyther for austeritie of life or for suffering of vndeserued death for the fayth or in the quarell of Iesus Christ oure Lorde The sacraments of Gods Church be iustly called holy bicause they be the instruments whereby God doth worke holynesse in the soule of man and be as causes of the same by Christes owne ordinaunce and institution But aboue all other thys sacrament of the aultar is holye being as Chrysostome sayde not onely a thing sanctified but the verie sanctification it selfe For in that it is the body of Christ by consecration whervnto is annexed the Godhead by vnitie of person it must needes be holynesse it selfe not in qualitie but in substaunce seing whatsoeuer thing is in God is also God who for his simplicitie receyueth no qualitie into himselfe but is the author and principall cause of all good qualities and graces giuen vnto man Wherefore this place of Chrysostome that calleth it sanctification it selfe can not be auoyded by no figuratiue speeches or such like cauillations CROWLEY Here you begin with a lowde lye by your leaue for there was neuer time yet wherein true christen men cared not who looked vpon them in the time of their mysteries Two lowde lyes one in anothers neck but they did shut out from the place where they did communicate all that were not thought méete to be partakers with them And if you beléeue not me looke in your Liturgies of Iames Basill and Chrysostome And then you clap another lye euen in the neck of the first saying that the Christians made a knocking and knéeling and adoration to the sacraments and that that was the thing that moued the Gentils to say that we worship many Gods and not one as we pretend But to proue this to be no lye you take saint Austen to wytnesse Who in the place that you cite sayth thus speaking to Faustus the Maniche Quomodo ergo comparas panem Calicem nostrum parem Religionem dicis errorem longè à veritate discretum peius desipiens quam nonnulli qui nos propter Panem Calicem Cererem liberum colere existimant How doest thou therfore compare our bread and cup and sayest that an errour which differeth verie farre from the truth is as good a religion as oures being more fondly disceyued then are certaine which by reason of the bread and cup doe suppose that we doe worship Ceres and Bacchus And in the same Chapter he sayth Sicut enim à Cerere libero Paganorum dijs longè absumus quamuis Panis Calicis sacramentum quod ita laudastis vt in eo nobis pares esse volueritis nostroritu amplectamur c For euen as we are verie farre from Ceres and Bacchus Gods of the Paganes although we doe after our maner embrace the sacrament of the bread and the cup which you haue so highly commended bicause you would therein be like vnto vs euen so our fathers were farre ynough from the chaines of Saturne although they did during the time of prophecie obserue the calling or name of the Sabboth The same Gentils which had sayde that the christians did worship Ceres and Bacchus bicause they vsed bread and wine in their communion had sayde also that the people of the Iewes were appointed to be the people of Saturne bicause they obserued the seuenth day of their wéeke for their Sabboth or rest which day the heathen did dedicate vnto Saturne Saint Austen therefore
to keepe it within him that he shal not expresse it outwardly and in very deede diuers notable and godly wryters at this day call this heresie against the sacrifice of the Church which Luther first began and most maintayned by this name Secta Mahumetica the sect of Mahomet As in your former reason speaking of the substaunce of the sacrifice of the Church you haue subtilly concluded CROWLEY that we spoile the Church of Christ of hir sacrifice bicause we denie that Christ is really and substantially present in the sacrament of his bodye and bloud euen so you go about nowe to conclude as subtilly against vs by the definitiō of a sacrifice You reason after this maner Seing a sacrifice is an outward protestation of our inwarde fayth and deuotion without which there is no religion those that doe take away our sacrifice doe take awaye our Religion But these heretikes that doe denie and destroy the Masse doe take away our sacrifice Ergo they spoyle vs of our Religion Saint Austen doth define a sacrifice something otherwise De Ciuitate Dei lib. 10. Cap. 5. 6. He sayth thus Sacrificium ergo visibile inuisibilis sacrificij sacramentum id est sacrum signum est A visible sacrifice therefore sayth saint Austen is a sacrament that is to say an holye signe of an inuisible sacrifice And agayne he sayth Quaecunque igitur in ministerio tabernaculi siue templis multis modis leguntur diuinitus esse praecepta ad dilectionem Dei proximi referuntur In his enim duobis praeceptis vt scriptum est tota lex pendet Prophetae All those things therefore sayth he that in the ministerie of the tabernacle or temple are read to be commaunded of God after many sortes concerning sacrifices are referred to signifie the loue of God and our neyghbour For in these two commaundements as it is written the whole law and Prophetes doe depend And in the same place he sayth Proind◠verum sacrificium est omne opus quod agitur vt sancta societate inhaereamus Deo relatum silicet adidum finem boni quo veraciter beati esse possimus Vnde ipsa misericordia qua homini subuenitur si propter Deum non fit non est sacrificium Wherefore sayth saint Austen the right sacrifice is euerye worke that is wrought to the ende that we may with an holy societie cleaue vnto God being referred to that ende of goodnesse whereby we maye be blessed in déede Wherefore euen that mercie that is shewed in succouring of a man is no sacrifice except it be done for Gods cause These wordes of Saint Austen doe make your definition scarce sufficient and the conclusion of your Argument nothing good By your definition euery such outward protestation of our inwarde fayth and deuotion as is made in the Masse maye be a sacrifice and so euery Masse that is sayd or song by a Priest may be a sacrifice But by saint Austens definition no Masse that is not sayd with relation to that ende of goodnesse No Masse said for hier may be a sacrifice whereby we may be happie in déede is a true sacrifice Ergo saint Austen and you conclude not both one thing Yea by these words of saint Austen it is playne that none of those Masses that be sayde in respect of hire or rewarde as the most part of Masses be may be accounted for sacrifices But graunt that all Priestes were Aungels and would say their Masses being moued thervnto by deuotion only yet would not S. Austen allowe their Masses for the sacrifice of the Church For he sayth in the aforenamed booke Cap. 5. Quoniam illud quod ab hominibus appelatur sacrificium signum est veri sacrificij That thing that men doe call a sacrifice is the signe of the true sacrifice And that he meaneth this of that which you doe call the Masse is manifest by his wordes in the later ende of the sixt Chapiter of that booke where he sayth thus The Church is offered in hir owne oblation Hoc est sacrificium christianorum multi vnum corpus sumus in Christo quod etiam sacramento altaris fidelibus noto frequent at Ecclesia vbi ei demonstratur quod in ea oblatione quam offert ipsa offertur This sayth Saint Austen speaking of the offering vp of our selues a sacrifice to God is the sacrifice of the Christians we being many are one body in Christ which the congregation also doth frequent in the sacrament of the Altare which is not vnknowne to the faythfull Where it is playnely shewed vnto hir that she hir selfe is in that oblation offered The meaning of this maner of spéeche that saint Austen vseth here was well knowne among Christians in his dayes But in later times it hath growne out of knowledge and therfore we had néede nowe to saye something of it least you and your sort should begin to triumph ouer vs and saye that nowe we haue found a sacrament of the altare which some of vs haue denied to be I my selfe haue denied and doe still denie that there is anye such sacrament of the altare as the Popes Church doth at thys daye frequent and vse wherein the Priest alone doth make a sacrifice for the quick and dead but that there is suche a sacrament of the altare as saint Austen speaketh of here that is wherein Christians doe offer vp themselues to God a sacrifice of thankesgyuing The Sacrament of the Altare and doe exercise the workes of mercy towards them that stande in néede and therefore called it in the Gréeke tongue Eucharistia and Agape thankesgyuing and loue I neyther haue done nor doe denie And bicause the fathers knewe that this sacrifice could not be acceptable to God except it were offered vpon Christ their Altare they called the sacrament whereby they vsed chiefely to shewe themselues to be nothing else but a sacrifice to be offered to God the sacrament of the altare meaning by that altare Christ wherevpon they offered themselues a Sacrifice acceptable vnto God But suche a sacrament as the Papistes doe hang ouer their altare and suche an altare as they vse to saye Masse vpon we knowe not of neyther did the fathers knowe any suche And this may suffise for the disproofe of your definition of a sacrifice Nowe something must be sayde concerning that place of Cyprian which you cite In déede saint Cyprian doth in such words as you cite reproue the grosse opinion of the Capernaits who supposed that our Sauiour had spoken of the outward and fleshly eating of that body of his which was present in their sight And therefore he sayth Cum illius personae caro c. as you haue cited But here M. Watson I must tell you that you deale not faythfully in cyting of the words of this father For in the words next folowing he sayth thus Sed in cogitationibus huiusmodi Cyprian Sermone De Caena caro sanguis non
prodest quicquam c. But in such maner of thoughts sayth Cyprian fleshe and bloud doe not helpe any thing at all For as the maister himselfe hath declared these wordes are spirite and lyfe neyther doth the fleshly sense enter in vnto the vnderstanding of so great a déepenesse except there come faith thervnto The breade is meate the bloud is lyfe the fleshe is substaunce the body is the Church A body bicause of the agréeing of the members in one bread bicause of the congruence of the nourishment Bloud bicause of the working of lyuelynesse Flesh bicause of the propertie of the humane nature that he hath taken vpon him Christ doth sometime call this sacrament his owne bodie sometime his fleshe and bloud sometimes bread a portion of euerlasting life whereof he hath according to these visible thinges giuen part to the corporall nature This common foode being chaunged into fleshe and bloud doth procure lyfe and encreasing vnto bodies and therefore the weakenesse of oure fayth being holpen by the accustomed effect of things is by a sensible argument taught that the effect of eternall lyfe is in the visible sacramentes and that we are made one with Christ not so much by a bodily passing into him as by a spirituall And agayne in the same Sermon he sayth Esus igitur carnis huius quaedam auiditas est quoddam desiderium manendi in ipso c. The eating therefore of this fleshe is a certaine gréedinesse and desire to dwell in him whereby we doe so presse and melt in our selues the swéetenesse of loue that the taste of loue that is poured into vs may cleaue in the roofe of our mouth and bowels entering into and making moyst all the corners both of our soules and body Drinking and eating doe appertayne both to one reconing And as the bodily substaunce is nourished by them and liueth and contynueth in health so the lyfe of the spirite is nourished with thys foode that doth properly belong thereto And looke what foode is to the fleshe the same is fayth to the soule Looke what thing meat is to the bodye the same is the worde to the spirite with more excellent power performing euerlastingly the thing that fleshely nourishments doe worke temporally and finally Hitherto Cyprian If it had pleased you to haue weighed all these wordes of Cyprian I thinke you could not for shame haue wrested his former wordes to such purpose as you doe concluding that if we haue not Christes body and bloud in the sacrament for our externall sacrifice whereby we may mitigate c. then we should be no better then Turkes c. S. Cyprian himselfe doth in these words that I haue cited out of the same Sermon expound his meaning in the former wordes cyted by you to be farre other then that which you gather and conclude vpon them In déede if the Capernaits had deuoured the body of Christ and none could haue bene saued but such as had bene partakers of the same with them a very small number should haue bene saued by him And when that number had bene dead his religion must néedes haue bene at an ende for they should haue had no more sacrifice for sinne for as much as he which should be the alone sacrifice for sinne had bene by them eaten vp and consumed When saint Cyprian therfore had thus spoken of the grosse opinion of the Capernaits he doth immediatly adde these words Sed in cogitationibus c. But in such maner of cogitations fleshe and bloud doe profite nothing at all For as the maister himselfe hath taught these wordes are spirite and lyfe c. And agayne afterward he sayth Esus igitur carnis huius c. The eating of this fleshe therefore is a certaine gréedinesse and desire to abide or dwell in him c. It is manifest therfore that saint Cyprian ment not to teach Cyprians meaning that vnlesse the body of Christ be really and substantially present in the sacrament the Church can haue no sacrifice and so consequently no religion but his meaning was to teache that it was not a fleshely but a spirituall eating that he spake of And that by faith the Church hath Christ her euerlasting sacrifice for sinne not offered by the massing Priestes euerye daye but offered by himselfe once for all and yet still present with God as all things both past and to come are For with God there is neyther time past nor to come but all present Other sacrifice to mitigate or please God the Church neyther hath nor néedeth anye For Christ hath by that one sacrifice once offered made perfite as manye as be made holye that is Hebr. 10. as many as be sanctified by the holy spirite of adoption And where as you compare vs to the Turkes as hauing no peculier sacrifice to offer I must tell you that you do belye your friend Cluniacensis Watson belyeth Cluniacensis whose testimonie you vse to prooue the Turkes and vs to be one sect His wordes be these Nam cum sint his nostris diebus quatuor in mundo precipuae diuersitates sectarum hoc est chirstianorum Iudaeorum Saracenorum Paganorum si Christiani non sacrificant iam nullus in mundo sacrificat Iudaei enim more suo c. For where as at thys day sayth Cluniacensis there be in the worlde foure chiefe diuersities of sects that is Christians Iewes Saracens and Paganes if the Christians doe not sacrifice there is none in the worlde that doth sacrifice For the Iewes according to their maner beholding all thinges with Oxe eyes and lyke Asses bearing the burdens of Gods lawe without taking anye fruite thereof doe sacrifice in no place bicause they saye that Ierusalem alone is the place where God must be honoured and worshipped in sacrifices c. And afterwarde speaking of the Paganes Petrus Cluniacensis he sayth Et cum slendi homines ignominiosius alijs a Diabolo his multis modis nobis ignotis deludantur sacrificia tamen nec Creatori nec creaturae exhibent Sed quod innatus error docuit absque omnium sacrificiorum notitia custodiunt Where as these men méete to be bywayled are of the Deuill by these and many meanes that we knowe not deluded more shamefully then other yet doe they not giue any sacrifice eyther to the Creator or to the creature But beyng without the knowledge of all sacrifices they doe obserue that thing which naturall error hath taught them Here it is manifest that your Cluniacensis sayth not that the Turkes onely are without sacrifice for the Paganes Turkes are euen by his playne wordes two seuerall sectes and farre ynough a sunder Cluniacensis a corrupter of scripture But what thoughe Cluniacensis and you did agrée in all poyntes Are you of such credit that nought that you say maye be denied A more manifest wrester and corrupter of manifest scriptures then Cluniacensis was did neuer set Pen to Paper except
c. When thine aduersarie shal sée Ambros in Psal 118. sermone 8. c. According to your olde maner of translating into Englishe you thrust in body and soule of your owne and so doe yée euerye place and would haue men thinke that you meane well and truely But let vs sée what may be sayde to these wordes of Ambrose First I must let the Reader sée a fewe wordes that go before those that you cite so shall he be the better able to iudge whether you haue dealt vprightly in alledging them for your purpose or no. He writeth thus Suscipe ante Dominum Iesum tuae mentis hospitio Vbi Corpus eius ibi Christus est Cum hospitium tuum aduersarius viderat occupatum caelestis fulgore praesentiae intelligens locum tentamentis suis interclusum esse per Christum fugiet ac recedet Receyue before hande the Lorde Iesus into the harbour of thy minde Christ is there where his body is When the enimie shall perceyue that the brightnesse of the heauenly presence doth possesse thy lodging and vnderstand that Christ hath enclosed the place from his temptations he wyll flye and depart awaye Ambrose doth here teach vs to receyue Christ First spiritually into our mindes by faith and then sacramentally in the congregation The scripture that gaue him occasion to wryte thus is the sixt verse of the eyght part of the .118 Psalme after the accompt of the .70 The wordes of the verse are these At midnight did I arise to prayse thée c. By occasion of these wordes Ambrose doth earnestly exhort all Christians to giue themselues to meditation both night and daye but specially at suche time as publike fasting should be appointed The dayes were then troublesome and christians were well most continually persecuted Wherefore they did often at the appointment of their Pastours The right vse of fasting abstayne from all maner of bodily sustenaunce and from sléepe and gaue themselues to prayer in the congregation and did communicate So assuring euen their senses that though they should fall into the persecutors handes yet should there no harme happen vnto them For they were surely cowpled vnto Christ and one to another So that though they should séeme to the worlde to perishe yet they were in déede deliuered from miserie and receyued into endlesse felicitie And for this cause doth Ambrose call this sacrament Munimentum A defence For by it we be thorowly certified of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes and that we are reconciled and receyued into fauour with God againe This is not to teach that after the receyuing of the sacramēt of the aultar as you terme it the Deuill can finde no way to enter into the receiuer but that when we haue receyued Christ by faith and doe declare the same by communicating with the rest of Christes members then may we assure our selues that there is no way for the enimie to enter And therefore he will flie away and as saint Ambrose sayth depart from vs. For Christ is in possession and none is able to remoue him But I must still maruayle that you sée not that all these whome ye alledge doe fight against you for your priuate Massing And that this Ambrose doth giue you warning that if you will be defended against the Deuill and haue him shut out you must first receiue Christ into the harbour of your minde Christ must be in the minde before the sacrament come in the mouth which is by faith For Ambrose knewe that if Christ were not in possession of the minde before the sacrament came into the mouth the receyuing should be to condempnation And then it doth not shut out the Deuill but make an open way for him to enter But nowe let vs sée what Nazianzen hath saide You say that his words be thus Mensa haec c. This table and so forth as is afore Bicause the reader shall not néede to séeke the wordes that you haue left out in the workes of Gregorie which are not in euery mans studie I will write so much of his saying as may make his meaning knowne And if any shall doubt of my faithfull dealing therein let the same search the place and be satisfied His wordes are these Sanè vnguentum quoddam habeo sed quo solum Reges sacerdotes vtuntur varium preciosum ac pro nobis euacuatum magni vnguentarij opificio compositum Vtinam mihi contingat vnguenti huius odorem bonum apponere Deo Habeo mensam spiritalem illam deuinam quam mihi praeparauit Dominus contra tribulantes me Vel in qua requiesco delicijs fruor nequaquam propter sacietatem iniuriam committo sed omnem passionum rebellionem sedo c. I haue a little swéete oyntment also but yet such as being of many oyntments mixed togither and costly and drawne out for vs it annoynteth onely kings and priests which was made by the workmanship of an excellent vnguentary Would God it might be my lot to poure out vnto God a swéete sauour of this oyntment I haue also this spirituall and heauenly table which the Lorde hath prepared for me ouer against them that trouble me or in which I doe rest and delight my selfe and doe nothing offend by reason of sacietie or fulnesse but I doe also suppresse all rebellion of affections Nowe let the learned reader iudge how well you deserue to be credited another time when you cite any thing out of the auncient fathers Gregorie hath sayde Or in which I doe rest and delight my selfe and doe nothing offend by reason of sacietie or fulnesse But you thought good not to trouble your hearers with any of those wordes least they should sée that Gregorie and you be of two mindes You make your tale smooth and whole as though you had not lept ouer any of Gregories words For thus you say This table is prepared of God against them that vexe and trouble me Crafty handling of the fathers sayings by which I quench and pacifie al rebellion of my naughtie affections Who would thinke that there were any worde left out So craftily can you handle the wordes of auncient fathers to make them séeme to serue your purpose But when the wordes of Gregorie are considered wholy togither and conferred with that which goeth before and foloweth after it shall appéete that Gregories meaning was to declare in what pointes the acceptable exercise of Christian religion doth consist and stande In purenesse of soule and chéerefulnesse of minde not in bodily mirth gorgious apparell eating and drinking and wantonnesse Not in furnishing of houses and dores with flowers nor burning of lights nor playing vpō Instruments c. For such was the order of the heathenish solemnitie He would haue such Lamps as might light the whole bodye of Christes Church and the whole worlde And he sayth that he meaneth the holy word of God therby In comparison of this light saith he I
of this aunswere iudge you come to the second thing that you sayde did mooue you to continue in your Popishe fayth That is the Authorities of auncient fathers that haue flourished in all ages in preaching of Gods truth And to make your Auditorie to thinke that you meane to deale simply you say that we haue omitted nothing that eyther by misconsturing or deprauing might séeme to make against your fayth but haue stoutly alledged amplified enforced and set forth to the vttermost that our wyttes coulde conceyue c. But when the indifferent reader shall haue read ouer this aunswere and weighed both your doings and mine in misconsturing deprauing stoute alledging amplyfying and enforcing I doubt not but he shall sée and will say that the doings that you charge vs withall are your owne And that whereas by the helpe of God we had brought some to the knowledge of your false dealing so that they began to laye hande vpon the true fayth in Iesus Christ you and your sort haue by subtile perswations by imprisonment and by torments of fyre driuen many of them eyther to denie their fayth or else to hide it or flie their Countrie and would if you might haue contynued haue banished the light of Christes glorious Gospell for euer But the Almightie God be praysed for it your power is nowe cut something shorter A fewe Authorities you say you will picke out which shall proue and conuince the truth of your fayth And first you will begin with the weakest as who should say the Authorities that shall come in the rearewarde are thunderbolts in comparison of the first But with little study and lesse labour you could alledge a great number c. Well you will beginne with Tertullian in his Apologie where he sayth thus Dicimur sceleratissimi c. Apologet. 7. We are called most wicked c. And to his wordes you ioyne the wordes of Attalus written by Eusebius The wordes are otherwise in Latine then you doe report them in Englishe I will therefore let the reader sée them in Latine that the learned may iudge of both our doings Attalus verò cum prunis subteriectis in sella ferrea torreretur cunque nidor adustae carnis ad nares ora inspectantis populi perferrebatur Eccles hist lib. 5. ca. 3. voce magna exclamat ad plebem Ecce hoc est homines commedere quod vos facitis Quid à nobis velut occultum inquiritis facinus quod vos aperta luce committitis Nos enim neque commedimus homines neque aliud quid mali agimus But when Attalus was rosted in an yron Cradell with burning coales cast vnder it and when the sauour of the burned fleshe was brought to the nostrils and mouth of the people that stood looking on he doth with a lowde voyce crie out vnto the people Beholde this that you doe is to eate men Why doe ye searche for amongst vs as for an horrible déede done in secret that thing which you your selues doe commit in the open light For we neither eate men nor doe any other euill thing Of these two places you gather a coniecture that is that for as much as the christians were accused as eaters of mans fleshe and drinkers of mans bloud there must néedes be some occasion of that accusation Which you can coniecture to be none other but the common opinion of the christians concerning the substaunce that they receyued in the sacrament Which though they kept as secretly as possibly they might yet by one meane or other it came to the eares of the enimies of Christen profession Which for lack of fayth could not conceyue that maner of eating fleshe and drinking bloud that the christians vsed And therfore they bruted abroad their owne foolishe coniecture Which was that christians did in their sacrifice kill a yong Infant and dip there sacrificing bread in the bloud therof and so eate it But you after your maner of amplifying doe say that the christians were accused before certaine Magistrates of this heynous crime of eating the fleshe of yong children and drinking their bloud Which you can finde neyther in Tertullian nor Eusebius But so your tale hath a better shewe for your purpose that you might conclude that it could neuer haue come into the heades of the heathen thus to accuse the christians if there had not bene a truth in the matter And therefore you conclude that it is true that in those dayes the christians did and we doe nowe eate fleshe and drinke bloud in the sacrament but not true concerning the kylling and murdering of children This you say is the weakest argument that you will vse to proue and conuince the truth of your fayth by If this argument be sufficient to proue and conuince that we doe eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of Christ in the sacrament after your sort then let me make an argument to proue and conuince that in Tertullians dayes christians did giue themselues to carnall copulation eyther in common or else at the least with their owne wyfes immediatly after their feast of communion euen in the same place where they had holden that feast For Tertullian sayth immediatly after those wordes that you cite An argumēt like Watsons Et post conuiuium incesto quòd euersores luminum canes lenones silicet teneburum libidinum impiarum inuerecundiam procurent And it is sayde that after the feast we go to incest and that Dogs that is to say Bawds which ouerthrow the lightes doe procure vnshamefastnesse of the darkenesse and wicked lustes Thus they doe report of vs sayth Tertullian But this suspition coulde neuer haue come into their heades if there had not béene a truth in the matter of carnall copulation although not incestuously as they did maliciously brute abroad As well doth this argument proue and conuince this matter as doth your argument proue that christians did in those dayes and doe nowe eate fleshe and drinke bloud in the sacrament I can not but maruaile what you meane in cyting Origine contra Celsum sith you haue sayde before that the accusers of the christians were men of great reason learning and equitie For Origine sayth in the place that you cite Origine maketh Watsons coniecture to seeme vntrue that for as much as these things be reported of christians by such as be nothing acquainted with christian religion they are adiudged to be vaine and falsely inuented against the christians What reason learning and equitie can there be in men that will falsely inuent and spread abroad such abhominable and slaunderous reportes But Tertullian hath cast in a worde that maketh vp the matter whole on your side For he sayth De sacramento insanticidij For the sacrament of kylling of children But let vs sée his words togither as Beatus Rhenanus hath set them forth Dicimur sceleratissimi de sacramento infanticidij pabulo Iudae post conuiuium incesto quòd euersores luminum
canes lenones silicet tenebrarum libidinum impiarum inuerecundiam procurent We are reported to be the worst men of all for the sacrament of murdering of children and the foode of Iudas and for incest after the feast bicause Dogs that is to say Bawds that ouerthrow the lightes doe procure vnshamefastnesse of darkenesse and wicked pleasures This word sacrament you say is a vayne worde and standeth there for no purpose but to declare vnto vs that their occasion did rise for lack of the true and precise knowledge of oure sacrament If I might be so bolde I would tell you that your iudgement of Tertullians wryting is verie vaine and foolishe in that you iudge him to haue cast in this worde sacrament as seruing to none other purpose but as you imagine For what is more probable then that the heathen did report of them that they had a mysterie or sacrament which did consist in the murdering of yong children And doth not Rhenanus in the argument of this booke say that it was obiected to the christians that in their diuine seruice they did kill a yong Infant and imbrue with his bloud the bread that they would eate But this was false sayth he But you saye it was true concerning the substaunce of the matter Well Watson against Rhenanus I will leaue you to deale with Tertullian and Rhenanus as you can in this matter But I maruaile much what you meane in that you chaunge Iudae into Inde You doe English it eating their flesh and drinking their blood I think you haue not found it so in Tertulians works in any impression that is now to be séene I must néeds say then that you depraue misconster enforce the wrytings of the auncient fathers to serue your purpose I can not sée but you might as well haue suffered it to stand as it was Pabulo Iudae as to make it Pabulo inde sauing that then you might not haue translated it as you doe But you must néedes haue sayde the foode of Iudas And why might not the enimies obiect to the Christians these thrée crimes The kylling of Infants The féeding of Iudas And committing of incest Why might they not imagine that the Christians should at their méetings haue one to counterfeyt Christ and another Iudas the one dypping a sop and the other receyuing the same at his hande Or why might they not call the eating of that bloudy bread by the name of Iudas feast You say that the Christians kept their mysteries so secret that the enimies could haue no knowledge of the maner of their doings But in the same Chapter Tertullian sayth thus Ipsi etiam domesticis nostris quotidie obsiâ—emur quotidie prodimur in ipsis plurimum caetibus coÌ„gregationibus nostris opprimimur c. We our selues also sayth Tertullian are euery day beset with our owne families we are daylie betrayed and verie often are we oppressed euen in our verie assembles and congregations And who did at any time come sodainely vpon vs and finde a childe crying in such sort Who did euer finde our mouthes bloudie lyke Cyclopians and Cirenians and did open the same to the iudge By this it is manifest that the Christians did not in those dayes kéepe their mysteries so secret as you would haue men thinke they did Watsons conclusion foloweth not Neither doth that folow that you would conclude that is that bicause the enimies to christian religion did imagine that they did murder Infants and embrue the bread that they should eate in their communion with the bloud of those children therefore it was true that they did eate the fleshe and drinke the bloud of Christ in the sacrament in such reall and carnall sort as you teache And yet afterward our mysteries as they came in more knowledge amongs the Gentiles WATSON Diuision 30 so they came into more contempt for when the multitude of Christian men were so increased that they cared not who did looke vpon them in the time of their mysteries being out of feare of any externall violence persecution then the Gentils seing them knock and kneele and make adoration to the sacraments not knowing them to be any thing else but as their eyes senses and reason did iudge that is to say bread and wine as our sacramentaries doe nowe being blinded nowe with heresie as they before were with infidelitie then I say they sayde that we did not worship and adore one God as we pretended but many Gods as they were accustomed for they sayde as saint Augustine wryteth that we did worship Ceres and Bacchus the Gods of Corne and Wine August con sanst libr. 20 Capit. 13. taking our sacraments to be nothing else but bare bread and wine as the Sacramentaries doe and not to be Christ our Lorde and God his fleshe and his bloud as all true faythfull men doe which appeareth by the adoration of them the which adorarion we learne that it was done to the sacraments from the beginning as is proued by the testimonies of our enimies the Gentils as saint Augustine reporteth And also by their adoration we learne that the things which they did adore were not simple creatures but Christes body and his bloud vnited to the second person in Trinitie Saint Basill being asked with what feare perswasion Basilius in reg in terrog 172. fayth and affection we should come and communicate the body and bloud of Christ aunswereth thus Concerning the feare we haue the saying of the Apostle He that eateth and drinketh vnworthily eateth drinketh his iudgment and damnation What fayth we should haue the words of our Lord doe teach who sayde This is my body which is giuen for you doe this in my remembraunce Hesichius li. 6. ca. 22. And Hesichius sayth likewise Sermo qui prolatus est in dominicum mysterium ipse liberat nos ab ignorantia The wordes of Christ which were spoken vpon our Lordes mysterie they deliuer vs from ignoraunce that is to saye they teache vs what fayth what estimation wee should haue of them Nowe except they be taken as they sound to euery man although he be vnlearned and not instructed in our fayth before they could not teach vs what fayth we should haue concerning the sacraments therefore in that they be wordes wherevpon we must learne our fayth which delyuer vs from ignoraunce what the things be that be deliuered for that cause they must be taken as they sounde that is to say that the sacraments deliuered be the very body and bloud of Christ that gaue them 〈◊〉 â—om 17. in Math. Chrysostome sayth Quod sacerdos de manu sua dat non solum sanctificatum est sed etiam sanctificatio est That thing that the Priest doth giue out of his hande is not onely a thing sanctified but it is sanctification it selfe Therefore our sacrament must not onely be an holy thing as they sayde holy bread holy wine but it must bee the
doth aunswere that both the Iewes and the Christians are farre ynough from seruing eyther Saturne Ceres or Bacchus notwithstanding that the one of them obserued the seauenth day and the other vsed bread and wine in their communion And a little afore in the same Chapter also he vttereth his minde verie plainly against the grosse opinion of the Manichies which helde that they did in all maner of meates wherwith they sustayned their bodies eate Iesus Christ euen as you holde that you eate him in the sacrament receyuing him into your bodies by the ministerie of your mouthes Of this grosse eating of Christ doth Austen write thus in that place Vobis autem per fabulam vestram in escis omnibus Christus ligatus apponitur adhuc ligandus vestris visceribus soluendusque ructatibus Nam cum manducatis Dei vestri defectione vos reficitis Et cum digeritis illius refâ—ctione deficitis Cum enim vos plenos reddit resumptio vestra ipsum premit c. But if your fable be true you haue Christ fast bound set before you in euery meat that you eate and must be bound agayne in your bowels and vnbounde by your belkings For when you doe eate you doe refresh your selues by the consuming of your God and when you loose the belly you doe by his refreshing faint or decay For when he doth fill you ful your receyuing of him againe doth oppresse him Which thing might be accompted for a déede of mercy seing that he doth in you suffer something for you except he did agayne leaue you emptie that being deliuered from you he might escape You thought belyke that no man would take the paines to waigh this place of Austen and therefore you were bolde to cite his wordes to proue that which none that is learned will denie That is Watson doth misse of his purpose that the Gentils did suppose and say that the christians did worship Ceres and Bacchus bicause they vsed bread wine in their sacrament But your purpose was so to cite his wordes that he might séeme to allowe that which you had sayde before concerning the knocking and knéeling and making of adoration to the sacrament as to Christ himselfe which these verie wordes that I haue reported out of the same Chapter doe flatly denie And where you say that adoration hath bene done to the sacraments euen from the beginning you shall neuer be able to proue it for the testimonie of the heathen that you stick vnto is disproued Neyther shall you be able to proue that we whome you call sacramentaries doe iudge the sacrament to be nothing else but bare bread and wine But we confesse that Christ is receyued of the worthy receyuer although not carnally as you teach Yea we say with Austen in that same place that you doe cite Noster autem Panis Calix non quilibet quasi propter Christum in spicis sarmentis ligatum sicut illi desipiunt sed certa consecratione mysticus fit nobis non nascitur c. Our bread and cup be not of the common sort as in stéede of Christ bound togither in eares of corne and twigs as they that is the Manichies doe foolishly imagine but by vndoubted consecration it is made vnto vs mysticall or sacramentall bread it doth not growe such wherefore that foode that is not so made although it be bread and wine it is a nourishment of refection but not a sacrament of religion otherwise then that we blesse and giue thankes to God in all his giftes not onely spirituall but corporall also Thus may all men sée that no man can alledge better matter for vs then that which Austen hath written euen in the place that you haue produced against vs. Such is your lucke in framing of Arguments to proue conuince the truth of your faith But what hath Basill sayde to this matter In the .172 Basil magnus in Reg. Interrogat 70. question you saye by your note in the margine but you should haue sayde .70 Saint Basill being asked c. But bicause you haue not dealt so faythfully in reporting writers mindes as ye might I will write his wordes in Latine Quali timore vel fide vel affectu percipere debemus corporis sanguinis Christi gratiam Pater Basilius Timorem quidem docet nos Apostolus dicens Qui manducat bibit indignè iudicium sibi manducat bibit non diiudicans corpus Domini Fidem verò edocet nos sermo Domini dicentis Hoc est corpus meum quod pro multis datur hoc facite in meam commemorationem Et iterum sermo Iohannis dicentis quòd verbum caro factum est habitauit in nobis The Monke moueth this question to S. Basill Father sayth he with what feare faith affection ought we to receiue the grace or frée gift of the body and bloud of Christ Basill aunswereth The Apostle doth teach vs with what feare we should receiue it when he saith Who so doth eate and drinke vnworthily doth eate and drinke his owne condemnatioÌ„ bicause he maketh no difference of the Lords body And the words of the Lord when he sayth This is my body which is giueÌ„ for many do this in remembrance of me do perfitly teach vs faith And again the words of Iohn when he saith The son of God is become flesh hath dwelt amongst vs. c. First I must tell you that you haue enforced Basill to speake otherwise in Englishe thorowe your lippes then eyther he wrote in Greeke or his translatour in Latine For he speaketh not of communicating the body bloud of Christ but of receiuing the grace frée gift of the body bloud of Christ Neither doth he say which is giuen for you but for many I note this to giue men occasion to consider what silly shifts you séeke to haue a little aduantage The fathers vsed sometimes to cal the sacraments Gratias graces or frée giftes of mercy In this place therfore S. Basill doth vse Gratiam for Sacramentum So that the question is in none other meaning theÌ„ thus With what feare c. must we receiue the sacrament of the body bloud of Christ but this maketh nothing for your purpose therfore you enforce him to say with what feare c. should we come to communicate the body and bloud of Christ As though Basill had affirmed the sacrament to be the body bloud of Christ in such sort as you affirme it to be But these shiftes wil not serue you so long as men may come to the sight of those authors workes that you doe so wrest for your purpose and be able to waigh their wordes and gather their meaning aright Isychius li. 6. Capit. 22. Isychius also sayth likewise saye you And you cite his wordes thus Sermo qui prolatus est c. The words of Christ which were spoken c. whether the fault be in you or your Printer I cannot tel but in